Folk Legends of Japan (35 page)

Text from
Nihon Densetsu Shu,
pp, 92-93. Reported by Yasuhito Yoshikawa.

A
RIVER
about ninety feet wide runs through Kuwano-mura, Naka-gun, Tokushima-ken, in Shikoku. Once a Buddhist pilgrim came to this village and asked for a night's lodging at a rich man's house. He carried with him a golden cock and a mosquito net, kept in a small box one inch square. The master of the house heard about those things after they had talked on various matters. He had an evil desire to take those things. Early the next morning the pilgrim left the house. The master followed after him, and when he came to a pool of the river, the master killed the pilgrim with his sword and threw him down into the pool. At that moment the golden cock flew away, flapping his wings, and the master obtained the mosquito net only. The water of this pool became red with the blood of this pilgrim and the pool gained the name of Nigori-ga-fuchi [Blood-red Pool].

At the house of the man who killed this pilgrim, they do not pound
mochi,
because if they do, blood is mingled with the
mochi.
It is said that the mosquito net is still kept in this house.

OTOWA POND

The powerful taboos on women during the menstrual period, which persisted in Japan until recent times, are illustrated in the following tradition. Mrs. Kiyoko Segawa has written an article on menstrual taboos for the forthcoming
Studies in Japanese Folklore,
describing how formerly women lived in isolated huts during menstruation. The pertinent motif is C141, "Tabu: going forth during menses," and particularly C141.3, "Tabu: not to enter water during menses." The deities of mountain and pond appear conjoined here.

Text from
Sado no Shima,
pp. 51-52.

O
TOWA POND
lies about ten kilometers northwest of Kawarada-machi, near Mt. Myoken, at an altitude of five hundred and sixty meters. It is surrounded with trees bearing thick green foliage and contains deep blue water. A famous legend is connected with the pond.

Once upon a time, there came to Chofuku-ji which stands beside this pond a beautiful lady, humbly clad but bearing herself nobly. She asked for lodging there. The priest of the temple pitied her and let her stay in the temple, half as a guest and half as a servant. She kept her origin secret, but told her name, Otowa.

One day in the rice-planting season, Otowa, at the bidding of the villagers, went gathering bracken. Before she knew it, she approached Mt. Kinhoku, which abominated the presence of women. As it was growing dark, she made haste to descend the mountain. On the way, without much thought, she washed her underwear, which she had stained, in the pond by the wayside.

Then, strangely enough, the pond rapidly enlarged, leaving a spot where Otowa stood in the center like a floating island. From the heavy evening haze came a voice: "I am
kami
of this pond. I have been waiting for you to come as my successor for a long time. Please, for pity's sake, become
kami
of the pond in my place. This is the fate that has been determined since the foreworld. I will not let you return to the village."

Otowa, in utmost astonishment and sorrow, asked for his pardon. But he would not pardon her. At the end of innumerable pleas, the voice said: "Well, I will give you three days' grace. I will send for you on the appointed day without fail." And it faded away.

Otowa came home dazed.

When she reached the temple, she withdrew into a trance. Next day, the priest in great worry consoled her and asked the reason for her sickness. She told him the events of the previous day, weeping bitterly all the while. The priest preached to Otowa the way of Buddha until she conceived firm faith as if she had been reborn.

The three days passed. At dawn, a voice called Otowa outside her door. Otowa, realizing that the time had come, bade the priest her last farewell, and prepared herself to leave the temple, giving the people, in her memory, her comb, clothes, and other possessions. The village folk dironged around her and grieved over her departure to become the
kami
of the pond in the mountain. Otowa then mounted on a palanquin, had the torch lighted, and rode toward the mountain while praying to Amida Buddha.

By and by, they came to an open field covered with tall grasses in front of a
jizo
shrine. There she said good-by to the village people. Before long, a sound of hoofs approached from afar, accompanied by a sudden gust of a strange wind, and a bitter rain. The village people all prostrated themselves on the ground. At this moment, a noble man on a white horse, clodied in white and wearing a gold sword, appeared, picked Otowa up on the front seat of the saddle, and disappeared into the morning mist. He was the
kami
of the pond.

For seven days, the mountain was covered with fog. On the seventh day a heavy rain fell, which covered heaven and earth with darkness. The village people say that during that rain the
kami
of the pond ascended to heaven, and Otowa became the
kami
in his place.

Even today, on the twenty-third of June in the old calendar, the village people give offerings to the pond, commemorating it as the day when Otowa wed the former
kami
of the pond.

SOURCES, BIBLIOGRAPHY, INDEX

SOURCES OF THE LEGENDS

COLLECTIONS

Aichi-ken Densetsu Shu
(Collection of Legends of Aichi Prefecture). Compiled by the Committee of Education, Aichi-ken. Tokyo, 1937.

Aso no Densetsu
(Legends of Aso). By Seishi Araki. Kumamoto-shi, 1953.

Bungo Densetsu Shu
(Collection of Legends of Bungo). Compiled by the Research Group on Local Historical Places and Legends of Oita-shi. Oitashi, 1931.

Chiisagata-gun Mintan Shu
(Collection of Folk Tales from Chiisagata District). By Masao Koyama. Tokyo, 1933.

Densetsu no Echigo to Sado
(Echigo and Sado in Legend). By Shogo Nakano. 2 vols., Niigata-shi, 1923-24.

Edo no Kohi to Densetsu
(Traditions and Legends of Old Tokyo). By Ryuzo Sato. Tokyo, 1931.

Hida no Densetsu to Minyo
(Legends and Folk Songs of Hida). Compiled by the Study Group in Nakayama Nishi Primary School. Takayama-shi, 1933.

Hyuga Minwa Shu
(Collection of Folk Tales of Hyuga). By Chihei Nakamura. Miyazaki-shi, 1954.

Ina no Densetsu
(Legends of Ina). By Kiyomi Iwasaki. Iida-shi, 1933.

Kai Densetsu
(Legends of Kai). By Riboku Dobashi. Kofu-shi, 1953.

Kikai-jima Mukashi-banashi Shu
(Collection of Fairy Tales of Kikai Island). By Eiichiro Iwakura. Tokyo, 1943.

Kiki-minti Soshi
(Listening-Ear Storybook). By Kizen Sasaki. Tokyo, 1931.

Minami Saku-gun Kohi Densetsu
(Traditions and Legends of Minami Saku District). Collected by teachers and school children of Usuda-machi, Minami Saku-gun. Nagano-shi, 1939.

Mukashi-banashi
(Fairy Tales). Collected by the Folklore Group of Ina. Iidamachi, 1934.

Miyazawa Kenji Meisaku Sen
(Selected Masterpieces of Kenji Miyazawa). Edited byjinjiro Matsuda. Tokyo, 7th ed., 1941; first published 1939. Not a folklore collection.

Muro Kohi Shu
(Collection of Traditions of Muro). By Teijiro Saiga. Tokyo, 1927.

Nihon Densetsu Shu
(Collection of Japanese Legends). By Toshio Takagi. Tokyo, 1913; 2nd edition, 1924.

Nishi Sanuki Mukashi-banashi Shu
(Collection of Fairy Tales of Nishi Sanuki). Compiled by Akira Takeda, for the Marugame Girls High School Local Study Group. Marugame-shi, 1941.

Okierahu Mukashi-banashi
(Folk Tales from Okierabu). By Eiichiro Iwakura. Tokyo, 1940.

Sado no Shima
(The Island of Sado). By Shunosuke Yamamoto. Sado-gun, Niigata-ken, 1953.

Shimabara-hanto Minwa Shu
(Collection of Folk Tales from the Shimabara Peninsula). By Keigo Seki. Tokyo, 1935.

Shimane-ken Kohi Densetsu Shu
(Collection of Traditions and Legends of Shimane Prefecture). Compiled by the Committee on Education of Shimane-ken. Matsue-shi, 1927.

Shintatsu Mintan Shu
(Collection of Folk Tales of Shintatsu). By Kiichi Kondo. Tokyo, 1928.

Shizuoka-ken Densetsu Meguri
(Tour of Legends of Shizuoka Prefecture), Vol. 2. By Kiyoshi Mitarai. Hamamatsu-shi, 1956.

Too Ibun
(Strange Things Heard from the Eastern Districts of Oshu). By Kizen Sasaki. Tokyo, 1926.

Tosa Fuzoku to Densetsu
(Customs and Legends of Tosa). By Masamichi Teraishi. Tokyo, 1925.

Tosa no Densetsu
(Legends of Tosa), Vol. 2. By Kazuo Katsurai. Kochi-shi, 1951.

Tsugaru Kohi Shu
(Collections of Traditions of Tsugaru). By Kunihiko Uchida. Tokyo, 1929.

Yamato no Densetsu
(Legends of Yamato). By Juro Takata, of the Yamato Historical Places Study Group. Nara-shi, 1933.

Zoku Kai Mukashi-banashi Shu
(Second Collection of Fairy Tales of Kai). By RibokuDobashi. Tokyo, 1936.

JOURNALS

Impaku Mintan
(Folk Tales of Im and Paku). Vol. I, nos. 1, 3, 4 (1936).

Kyodo Kenkyu
(Local-Life Studies). Vol. VII, no. 1 (1933).

Mukashi-banashi Kenkyu
(Studies in Fairy Tales). Vols. I—H (May, 1935-December, 1937).

Tabi to Densetsu
(Travels and Legends). Vol. I, nos. 4, 6, 10 (1928); Vol. II, no. 7 (1929); Vol. V, no. 8 (1932).

INFORMANTS

Kawasaki, Nobusada, my student at the University of Tokyo, then 24, son of a Buddhist priest, born in Funabashi-shi, Chiba-ken.

Miyasaki, Masaaki, born in Hokkaido, 1923, grandson of a samurai; on the staff of the American Cultural Center in Kanazawa when I met him.

Saito, Mrs. Hitoshi Kawashima, born in 1888 in Ueno, Aki-machi, a small village on the outskirts of Kochi-shi in Shikoku. She had heard many tales while sitting on the laps of her grandmother and great-grandmother. She herself is the grandmother of my student at the University of Tokyo, Kayoko Saito.

Yamamoto, Shunosuke, then 53, president of the Sado Folklore Society, whom I met at his home in Mano-mura on Sado Island.

BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ABBREVIATIONS FOR NOTES

Anesaki = Masaharu Anesaki: "Japanese Mythology," in
The Mythology of All Races;
Vol. VIII,
Chinese, Japanese
(Boston, 1928), pp. 207-387. An excellent discussion of various kinds of Japanese traditional tales.

Brauns, David:
Japanische Marchen und Sagen
(Leipzig, 1885). 489+xxiv pp. An important translation, even though too early to draw upon field collections, but giving recognition to the variety of Japanese legends, of heroes, specters, saints, localities, and changelings. No sources or notes.

Casal, U. A.: "The Goblin Fox and Badger and Other Witch Animals of Japan,"
Folklore Studies,
XVIII (Tokyo, 1959), 1-94 (section on the fox, pp. 1-49; section on the badger, pp. 49-58).

_____: "The Saintly Kobo Daishi in Popular Lore (A.D. 774-835),"
Folklore Studies,
XVIII (Tokyo, 1959), 95-144.

Chamberlain, Basil Hall: "Demoniacal Possession,"
Things Japanese,
5th ed., rev. (London, 1905), pp. 115-21.

De Visser, M. W.: "The Dog and the Cat in Japanese Superstition,"
Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan,
XXXVII, part 1 (1909), 1-78.

_____:
The Dragon in China and Japan
(Amsterdam, 1913). Book II deals with "The Dragon in Japan," pp. 135-237.

_____: "The Fox and Badger in Japanese Folklore,"
Transactions of the Asiatic Society of Japan,
XXXVI, part 3 (1908), 1-159.

_____: "Fire and Ignes Fatui in China and Japan,"
Mitteilungen des Seminars für Orientalische Sprachen an der Königlichen Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universitat zu Berlin,
XVII, part I (Berlin, 1914), 97-193.